CHEESEBURGER BACKPACK!

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Yes, as seen in Steven Universe.    I want to get it as a gift for my special somepony.  Do you know of anyone who can swing this?  Can YOU swing it?  Please let me know!

Everything must be a pocket.  Especially the cheese.

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Plz halp!  Thanks!

I had the pleasure of making a pony for Uninu for the Blackest Nights, Darkest Dreams swap.  After a couple of weeks he finally found his way to her!

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Ravenstag (or whatever Uninu wants to call him) started out as a VERY baity Quarterback (I had to fill in some parts around the head with Magic Sculpt.)  He has sculpted antlers and was rehaired with custom dyed mohair in dusky colors.  I think his red raven paintings are my favorite parts, though.  Here's a couple of detail shots:

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(If you see fuzzy bumps on his body, it's from his hair, not in the paint job!)

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I'm so glad you love him, Uninu!  I loved making him for you. 

Party with gifs because I just hit 10,000 posts!

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And of course ...

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No, this is not a thread about the show, as awesome as it is. 

Objective:

The first person to post is the king of the hill.  Your mission is to knock him/her off the pedestal in creative ways.  Want to take 'em down with a potato gun?  A swarm of angry bees?  A tidal wave?  Fakies?  A noxious fart even?  Doesn't matter.  You just have to be creative.

Rules:
-You are the new king when you have knocked the last person to post off the hill.  The next person will be knocking you off.
-Post format should be something like "I knock (insert username here) off by ____________."  You can vary upon that model, but you must use the person's username.
-Keep it fun and light hearted.  It's just a game. 
-You cannot go again until at least 3 more people have played.

So, since I started it, I rule at the moment.  Hit me with your best shot. 

Condiments make food, and dare I say life, more interesting.  What do you like to put all over your food?

I personally like hot sauce on everything.  Frank's Red Hot for flavor, and for heat, Sriracha.  I also love dipping my fries in honey mustard.  It's always been a comfort combination for me.  I also have a dangerous obsession with horseradish.  Mmmmm.

Does rehairing scare you?  Are you itching to put a brand new mane on an old pony or a custom but just can't figure out the whats, hows, whys, and whens?  Well, here's a handy tutorial which I hope will help those of you who want to get in on the pretty mane goodness.


There are two basic ways to rehair a pony: one is the old tried-and-true needle and thread method, and the other is by using a rehairing tool.  I am going to show you both methods, starting with the old school!


Stuff You'll Need:

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-A bald pony, of course!
-Hair (use whatever you like - nylon, saran, kanekalon, yarn, mohar, whatever -  but what I have here is some nylon DH in Buttercreme.)
-Scissors
-Pliers
-A tool for stretching a hole (upholstery needles work, but what I have pictured is a sculpting tool that has dulled and is no longer used for sculpting.)
-24 gauge wire (that's what's on the spool.  Some people use heavy-duty thread too, and that will work as long as it won't break.)
-Fabric Glue (I have Fabri-Tac featured, but I also use Aleese's Fabric Fusion, which I personally prefer, but your mileage may vary.)

Step 1: Prepare Hair Plugs

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Remove strands of hair and cut them a little bit longer than the length you'll want it on the pony (a few extra inches is good.)  What I've done here: this came off a standard 38 inch hank, and I cut the strand into thirds.

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Tie knots near the base of the hair.  I prefer to double-knot to make sure the knot will be a size that'll stay.

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Wash, rinse, repeat.  Make about as many as you think you'll need, but it's always better to make too little and have to go and make more plugs than to make too many plugs and have extras that you've wasted.

Put a dab of fabric glue on each knot, and leave them to dry for at least a few hours (overnight is best.)

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When they're dry, cut the extra lengths off the other side of the knots.

Step 2: Let's Start Rehairing!

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Take your hole-widening tool and insert it in the hair root.  (The point is to stretch the hole, not make a new one, so that the plastic will snap back and will hold your hair plug better.)

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Take your wire and cut a length long enough to go through the other side of the neck, doubled-over.  You'll be inserting in through the hole.  Fold it in the center of the wire like so:

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Insert the folded wire at the point through the widened hole.

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Bring it all the way through to the other side, so that the wire's loop is completely out of the neck but the other ends of the wire are still sticking through the top.  This is where you're going to pull the hair through.  If you need help fishing your wire loop through, use your pliers.

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Place the hair plug in the loop, near the knot.

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Take the ends of the wire at the top of the pony's head and pull the plug through.  Once it's through, pull the hair plug itself and not the wire to avoid crimping the hair. 

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Voila.

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Wash, rinse, repeat until you have a whole mane. 

Now, this method has worked for many years for many folks, and is practical, but let's face it - it's time consuming and can get your hands cramping really quickly.  That is why many customizers prefer to use rehairing tools.  Look, the goal and results of both ways are the same - you get a rehaired pony.  It's just that the first method is like riding a bike to town, but using a rehairing tool is like riding to town in a limousine.  If you do rehairs, I highly recommend investing or building your own.  I will supply links of folks who sell rehairing tools later, but I got mine from someone who is not an MLP Arena member and no longer sells publicly.

Anyway, moving on:


What You'll Need:

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-A bald pony again (I've made a G3 Ribbon and I'm rehairing her for this portion of the tutorial)
-Hair again (using nylon DH again, in Electric Banana with some Firebird for her stripe)
-Rehairing tool
-Thumbtack/push pin to widen holes (you don't need them as wide as you do with the other method)
-Scissors
-Fabric glue again (your choice)

I dunno why the pliers are in this photo.  You'll need them later for the tail along with wire and zip ties, but that I will save for the end.

Step 1:

Get your hair out.  I don't have this pictured as you don't need to pre-make plugs.  Personally I cut my strands in half to rehair G3 ponies, but some like longer manes and will use the whole thing.  This is personal preference.  Nylon strands tend to naturally separate into the width you'll need.

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Get your rehairing tool.  It should have a forked needle like the one pictured.  You can kind of see how the strands separate in the background of this photo.

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When you're getting ready to plug in a strand, put your pushpin through the root to widen it slightly.

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Tightly grab a strand between your fingers; hold it taut.  Try to center it as much as possible and run it between the forks of the needle.  Keep it held taut.

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Keeping the hair held tightly on the sides with your fingers, remove the pushpin and push the needle through the root.  A word of caution:  take extra care if your pony's head has a sculpted part, like the horn on this girl's head.

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Pull out the tool and voila.  You have a rooted hair plug!  Now remember that there is NOT a knot on the end like the other method, so if you yank on this IT WILL COME OUT and YOU WILL HAVE TO DO THIS AGAIN.  Take care not to pull on strands as you're working down the head.

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Wash, rinse, repeat.

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Woo!  Before you know it, you'll have a rooted head.  So what now?  Glueing, of course.

Step 3 (for both methods!): Glueing

No matter if you used a tool or the needle-and-thread method, you will need to glue the rooted hair on the inside.  USE FABRIC GLUE.  Please do not use Krazy Glue or anything like that, as it is extremely liquid and will seep through the roots and get on the outside hair.  Fabric glue is much more viscous and will stay on the inside of the head only.

I do not have pictures of this process, but all you really want to do is take your fabric glue and guide the nozzle to apply glue to the entire line of rooted hair on the inside of the pony's head.  Take care that you covered all the hair roots.  Use a popsicle stick or an old paintbrush you don't care to paint with anymore if you need help reaching the top of the line of roots.

Important!  Let the glue dry overnight.  I'm serious.  Fabric glue gives off some fumes and can seriously affect the pony plastic if you put the head back on too early.  Also, if you try to brush before the glue is fully dry, your hair will come out.  Just try to reroot a pony with glue on the inside.  It's fun.  Trust me.


In the meantime, you can put in the pony's new tail!

Supplies:

-Hair to make the tail (you'll be folding it over, so don't make it too thick.)
-Zip ties or twist ties
-Wire long enough to be folded in half to go through to the pony's neck with a generous amount still coming out (think body length times 3)
-Pliers

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Widen the tail hole a bit with the end of a paintbrush or a chopstick.  Be careful not to crack the pony's paint job if it has one.

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Take your folded wire and place the center of the tail hair in the fold.

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Insert the ends of the wire through the tail hole until they go out of the neck hole.  Use pliers to guide them through if you need help.

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Using pliers if you need help or just lots of hand strength if you don't, pull the wire through until the loop at the center of the tail is out of the neck hole.  Try to keep it as centered as possible.

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Wrap your first zip tie in the center of the tail hank.  Cut off the excess.

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Wrap a second zip tie just below the base of the loop the first one created.  Cut off the excess again.

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Again, keeping it centered as much as possible, pull the tail back through the hole until it stops.  And you have a tail!

Done!

Hair glue is dry?  Tail has been installed?  Get that pony's head back on its body in whatever way you need to (glueing, fidding with a neck plug, however you did it) and enjoy!

The first brushing before styling should be done with a soft bristle brush.  A few flyaway hairs will inevitably come out, so don't panic unless it's a lot.

Finished G3 Ribbon!

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Questions?  Comments?  Please give me your feedback!  As promised, I will get a list together of people to get rehairing tools from.  Thanks!

Okay, so the name may need a little work, but this is basically a darker-themed swap.  Gore is not the point, and it's not necessarily Halloweeny.  It's just ... we have so many cute, colorful themes (and those are fabulous!) but I'd love to see a customs swap where the point is to include darker, duskier, dare I say more gothic?  themes.  I don't like that word but it's the only one that fits.

Stuff that would fit:

Moonlit scenes
Dead trees
Black and grey bases!
Deep red, gold and silver (really any color can work as long as it looks ... dark.)
Jewels
Ravens/crows
Roses
Dark fairies
Mythical creatures, horns
Fire
Elemental things
Armor
Celtic knotwork
... anything else you can think of that just ... fits.

I'll devote some quality time on this thread linking to pictures for inspiration. 

Official rules and regulations:

1. This would be a swap for experienced customizers.  That doesn't mean you have to be an elite customizer, but you must know what you're doing.  You will have to provide at least 10 positive feedback examples with no negative feedback in your history.  At least 3 of those feedbacks should be for swaps of any kind, and they can be from here or from the TP.   You must also provide at least 3 examples of custom ponies you've created in the past.

2.  You MUST be able to ship internationally if needed.  I'm sorry in advance, but it's just not practical in terms of matching partners, as for this swap the matches aren't 100% random and based on skills and techniques/interests.  I can try to give you someone within your own country/continent, but no guarantees.  You can say if you PREFER not to ship internationally or if you don't mind, but it doesn't give you a 100% guarantee on this.

3.  I reserve the right to reject your application for any reason - if I do, it will usually be a feedback/current swap limit issue or some issue from a previous swap.  Never anything personal.

4.  You must stick to the theme, and you must check in with photo updates.  If you do not do this, you will be booted from the swap or will not be given permission to ship.  Check-in dates should be met and I should be able to have no problem communicating with you.

5.  It is YOUR responsibility to check for the accountability of swap hosts, and also not to exceed your Arena swap limit.  I will be checking these for every applicant.

6.  Ship smart!  Package all ponies well, in a sturdy box, after they are completely dried.  Do NOT wrap ponies in newsprint or colored tissue paper.  Take extra care if you have breakable parts.  Oh, and I cannot stress this enough - KEEP YOUR SHIPPING RECEIPTS.

7.  NO SPOILERS.  All photo updates should be sent only to me, unless I am your partner (I will tell you who to send it to.)  You don't know who talks to who, so DO NOT share who your partner is to anyone!  If you have questions for your partner, send them to me and I will get your answer.

8.  Extras are highly encouraged but not absolutely mandatory.  Extras should not take away from the pony itself - that's the main focus of your package, duh!

Dates:

*Sign-Ups: Swap Approval until July 17th, or until 20 participants have signed up - whichever comes first
*Partners Assigned - Wednesday, July 17th (within 24 hours)
*1st Check-In (Photo Required) - Wednesday, August 7th
*2nd Check-In (Photo Required) - Wednedsay, September 11th
*Shipping - Friday, September 30th to Friday, October 4th (Finished photo MUST be sent to get your shipping address! 
International shippers may get approval and ship one week before September 30th if they wish.)

Sign-up Form (behind spoiler)



Participants!
1. Eviecorn - Received by Partner!  http://mlparena.com/index.php/topic,343087.html
2. WeepingPiano - Received by Partner!  http://mlparena.com/index.php/topic,343076.0.html
3. ViciousJupiter - Received by Partner!  http://mlparena.com/index.php/topic,342183.0.html
4. Kaoskat - Received by Partner!  http://mlparena.com/index.php/topic,342342.0.html
5. Lady Satine - Received by Partner!  http://mlparena.com/index.php/topic,342817.0.html
6. Uninu - Recieved by Partner!  http://mlparena.com/index.php/topic,342519.0.html
7. tsukikakushi - Received by Partner!  http://mlparena.com/index.php/topic,342954.0.html
8. Unicorn_pops - Received by Partner!  http://mlparena.com/index.php/topic,342950.0.html
9. Roogna - Received by Partner!  http://mlparena.com/index.php/topic,342197.0.html
10. Salli - Received by Partner!  http://mlparena.com/index.php?topic=343547.0.html
11. coinoperatedgirl - Recieved by Partner!  http://mlparena.com/index.php/topic,342421.0.html
12. Pythia - Received by Partner!  http://mlparena.com/index.php/topic,342786.0.html
13. PrincessOfDarkness - Received by Partner!  http://mlparena.com/index.php/topic,342961.0.html
14. wiccanpony1 - Received by Partner!  http://mlparena.com/index.php/topic,342383.0.html
15. summer-blade - Received by Partner!
16. StrawberryMeadow - Received by Partner!  http://mlparena.com/index.php/topic,344172.0.html
17. WaePonies - Received by Partner!  http://mlparena.com/index.php/topic,342585.0.html
18. Flarewing - Received by Partner!  http://mlparena.com/index.php/topic,342184.0.html
19. BlackCurtains - Received by Partner!  http://mlparena.com/index.php/topic,342354.0.html
20. hannaliten - Received by Partner!


Approved ~ CSA 7/1/13

Hi all!

I'm in bad need of new art supplies so I really, really need to take commissions to pay for them.  Here's stuff I'm willing to offer!

Icons - $10 and up

-$10 for simple headshots, more for more details.  $15 for very detailed shading.

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Other types of Commissions:

Headshots - $15 and up, great for signatures

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Full body, cartoony digital - $20 and up

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Full body, natural digital - $30 and up

-for some reason the example isn't working!-

Traditional Art Cards - $20 and up (1 character starts at $20)

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Traditional Artwork - starting at $25 for full-color busts.  Better quotes will come from telling me exactly what you want.  Some examples under the cut.


PM me if you're interested in taking on some commissions.